[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 161 (Thursday, August 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50632-50634]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20599]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for 
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) approve the proposed information collection 
project: ``Online Application Order Form for Products from the 
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP).''
    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-
3521, AHRQ invites the public to comment on this proposed information 
collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by October 19, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz, 
Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, by email at 
[email protected].
    Copies of the proposed collection plans, data collection 
instruments, and specific details on the estimated burden can be 
obtained from the AHRQ Reports Clearance Officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports 
Clearance Officer, (301) 427-1477, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project

Online Application Order Form for Products From the Healthcare Cost and 
Utilization Project (HCUP)

    The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP is a vital 
resource helping the Agency achieve its mission to produce evidence to 
make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and 
affordable. HCUP is a family of health care databases and related 
software tools and products developed through a Federal-State-Industry 
partnership and sponsored by AHRQ. HCUP includes the largest collection 
of longitudinal hospital care data in the United States, with all-
payer, encounter-level information beginning in 1988. The HCUP 
databases are annual files that contain anonymous information from 
hospital discharge records for inpatient care and certain components of 
outpatient care, such as emergency care and ambulatory surgeries. The 
project currently releases seven types of databases created for 
research use on a broad range of health issues, including cost and 
quality of health services, medical practice patterns, access to health 
care programs, and outcomes of treatments at the national, State, and 
local market levels. HCUP also produces a large number of software 
tools to enhance the use of administrative health care data for 
research and public health use. Software tools use information 
available from a variety of sources to create new data elements, often 
through sophisticated algorithms, for use with the HCUP databases.
    HCUP's objectives are to:
     Create and enhance a powerful source of national, state, 
and all-payer health care data.
     Produce a broad set of software tools and products to 
facilitate the use of HCUP and other administrative data.
     Enrich a collaborative partnership with statewide data 
organizations (that voluntarily participate in the project) aimed at 
increasing the quality and use of health care data.
     Conduct and translate research to inform decision making 
and improve health care delivery.
    This project is being conducted by AHRQ through its primary 
contractor and subcontractor, Truven Health Analytics and Social & 
Scientific Systems, Inc., pursuant to AHRQ's statutory authority to 
conduct and support research on health care and on systems for the 
delivery of such care, including activities with respect to the 
outcomes, cost, cost-effectiveness, and use of health care services and 
access to such services. 42 U.S.C. 299a(a)(3).

Method of Collection

    The HCUP releases seven types of databases for public research use:
    (1) The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) is the largest all-payer 
inpatient care database in the United States, yielding national 
estimates of hospital inpatient stays. The NIS approximates 20 percent 
of the discharges from all U.S. community hospitals and contains data 
from approximately 8 million hospital stays each year. NIS data 
releases are available for purchase from the HCUP Central Distributor 
for data years beginning in 1988.
    (2) The Kids' Inpatient Database (KID) is the only all-payer 
inpatient care database for children in the United States. The KID was 
specifically designed to permit researchers to study a broad range of 
conditions and procedures related to child health issues. The KID 
contains a sample of 2 to 3 million discharges for children age 20 and 
younger from more than 3,500 U.S. community hospitals. KID data 
releases are available every third year starting in 1997.
    (3) The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) is the 
largest all-payer Emergency Department (ED) database in the United 
States. It is constructed to capture information both on ED visits that 
do not result in an admission and on ED visits that result in an 
admission to the same hospital. The NEDS contains more than 25 million 
unweighted records for ED visits at about 1,000 U.S. community 
hospitals and approximates a 20-percent stratified sample of U.S. 
hospital-based EDs. NEDS data releases are available beginning with 
data year 2006.
    (4) The State Inpatient Databases (SID) contain the universe of 
inpatient discharge abstracts from data organizations in 46 States and 
the District of Columbia that currently participate in the SID. 
Together, the SID encompasse approximately 96 percent of all U.S. 
community hospital discharges. Most States that participate in the SID 
make their data available for purchase through the HCUP Central 
Distributor. Files are available beginning with data year 1990.
    (5) The State Ambulatory Surgery and Services Databases (SASD) 
contain encounter-level data from ambulatory surgery and other 
outpatient services from hospital-owned facilities. In addition, some 
States provide data for ambulatory surgery and outpatient services from 
nonhospital-owned facilities. Currently, 34 States participate in the 
SASD. Files are available beginning with data year 1997.
    (6) The State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) contain data 
from hospital-owned EDs for visits that do not result in a 
hospitalization. Currently, 32 States participate in the SEDD. Files 
are available beginning with data year 1999.
    (7) A new database called the Nationwide Readmissions Database 
(NRD) is planned for release in late

[[Page 50633]]

2015. The NRD is designed to support various types of analyses of 
national readmission rates. This database addresses a large gap in 
health care data--the lack of nationally representative information on 
hospital readmissions. The NRD is a calendar-year, discharge-level 
database constructed from the HCUP State Inpatient Databases (SID).
    To support AHRQ's mission to improve health care through health 
services research, HCUP databases and software tools are disseminated 
to users outside of the Agency through the HCUP Central Distributor at 
https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/tech_assist/centdist.jsp. The HCUP Central 
Distributor assists qualified researchers to access uniform research 
data across multiple states with the use of one application process. 
The HCUP databases disseminated through the Central distributor are 
referred to as ``restricted access public release files''; that is, 
they are publicly available, but only under restricted conditions.
    This information collection request is for the activities 
associated with the HCUP database application process not the 
collection of health care data for HCUP databases. The activities 
associated with this application include:
    (1) HCUP Application. All persons requesting access to the HCUP 
databases must complete an application at https://distributor.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/. Applications for HCUP State databases require a brief 
description of the planned research use to ensure that the intended use 
is consistent with HCUP policies and with the HCUP Data Use Agreement. 
Paper versions of all application packages are also available for 
downloading at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/tech_assist/centdist.jsp.
    (2) HCUP Data Use Agreement Training. All persons wanting access to 
the HCUP databases must complete an online training course. The purpose 
of the training is to emphasize the importance of data protection, 
reduce the risk of inadvertent violations, and describe the 
individual's responsibility when using HCUP data. The training course 
can be accessed and completed online at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/tech_assist/dua.jsp.
    (3) HCUP Data Use Agreement (DUA). All persons wanting access to 
the HCUP databases must sign a data use agreement. An example DUA for 
the Nationwide databases is available at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/team/NationwideDUA.jsp.
    HCUP databases are released to researchers outside of AHRQ after 
the completion of required training and submission of an application 
that includes a signed HCUP DUA. In addition, before restricted access 
public release state-level databases are released, AHRQ must review and 
approve the applicant's statement of intended use to ensure that the 
planned use is consistent with HCUP policies and with the HCUP Data Use 
Agreement. Fees are set for databases released through the HCUP Central 
Distributor depending on the type of database. The fee for sale of 
state-level data is determined by each participating Statewide Data 
Organization and reimbursed to those organizations. Information 
collected in the HCUP Application process will be used for two purposes 
only:
    1. Business Transaction: In order to deliver the HCUP databases and 
software, contact information is necessary for shipping the data on 
disk (or any other media used in the future).
    2. Enforcement of the HCUP DUA: The HCUP DUA contains several 
restrictions on use of the data. Most of these restrictions have been 
put in place to safeguard the privacy of individuals and establishments 
represented in the data. For example, data users can only use the data 
for research, analysis, and aggregate statistical reporting and are 
prohibited from attempting to identify any persons in the data. Contact 
information on HCUP DUAsis retained in the event that a violation of 
the DUA takes place.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

    Exhibit 1 shows the estimated annualized burden associated with the 
applicants' time to order any of the HCUP databases. An estimated 1,300 
persons will order HCUP data annually. Each of these persons will 
complete an application (10 minutes), the DUA training (15 minutes) and 
a DUA (5 minutes). The total burden is estimated to be 650 hours 
annually.
    Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden associated 
with the applicants' time to order HCUP data. The total cost burden is 
estimated to be $24,772 annually.

                                  Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                          Number of
              Form name                   Number of     responses per     Hours per        Total burden hours
                                         respondents     respondent       response
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HCUP Application Form................           1,300               1           10/60  217
HCUP DUA Training....................           1,300               1           15/60  325
HCUP DUA.............................           1,300               1            5/60  108
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    Total............................           3,900              na              Na  650
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                                   Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
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                                          Number of     Total burden   Average hourly
              Form name                  respondents        hours        wage rate *       Total cost burden
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HCUP Application Form................           1,300             217          $38.11  $8,270
HCUP DUA Training....................           1,300             325           38.11  12,386
HCUP DUA.............................           1,300             108           38.11  4,116
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    Total............................           3,900             650              na  24,772
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* Based upon the mean of the average wages for Life Scientists, All Other (19-1099), National Compensation
  Survey: Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2014 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
  United States, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#b29-;0000


[[Page 50634]]

Request for Comments

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, comments on AHRQ's 
information collection are requested with regard to any of the 
following: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of AHRQ health care research and 
health care information dissemination functions, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of AHRQ's 
estimate of burden (including hours and costs) of the proposed 
collection(s) of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information upon the 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the Agency's subsequent request for OMB approval of the 
proposed information collection. All comments will become a matter of 
public record.

Sharon B. Arnold,
Deputy Director.
[FR Doc. 2015-20599 Filed 8-19-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P